Are you a dreamer? You know the kind of dream you see and experience when you’re deep in sleep. I can’t remember the last time I had a dream. As kids our dreams are active and filled with color and excitement. Sometimes those dreams turn dark and fill with scary images – we call those nightmares. But they’re still dreams.
I know what you’re thinking this is an advent devotion and I’m reading it with my kids. What is he doing talking about nightmares!?! You got me. Advent isn’t about nightmares at all actually, but it is about the unexpected.
Remember how this week is all about God showing up in unexpected places? Well today’s place is in dreams. There’s a story in the Bible about a man named Jacob. He had a dream one day of a huge ladder that reached all the way to heaven. Who sat atop this ladder? Yep! You guessed it – God.
Jacob didn’t lay down to take a nap because he thought he’d see God. He slept because he was tired. You know just like we sleep when we’re tired. But the cool part here is that God showed up in Jacob’s dream!
The point here is all about God showing up in the most unexpected of places. Some of those places are not places we’d ever expect Jesus to show up. I mean a small town in the middle of nowhere Israel? A whisper in the side of a cliff? A dream a guy has laying on a rock?
Take time today to look for God in those unexpected places.
Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Genesis 28:11-13
This time of year seems to just amplify that reality. All you have to do is go to the mall and listen as the Christmas music that’s piped through the less than adequate sound system. Go to McDonald’s and hear the hustle and bustle of yelling children. Even in churches through the Advent season you’ll hear more and more children playing with their toys, crumbling papers, coloring, and calling for mom to pick them up.
In a world filled with noise, we’re hard pressed to find a place to find God. The noise seems to distract us from where He might be found. And this brings us to the second stop in our unexpected places tour. Silence.
There’s a story in the Bible in a book called 1 Kings where a man named Elijah tries to find God. There are a series of noises that come his way. They are loud and boisterous sounds. Powerful displays of might. But God wasn’t in any of them. While Elijah is tucked into a little cave on the side of a mountain, a gentle breeze-like whisper comes through. And oddly enough this is right where God is found.
And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:12-13
The gentle breeze. The whisper of God. We tend to look for God in the power moments and the big lights. The huge tree of Christmas or the fully decked out house. But God doesn’t roll like that. Instead He comes in unassuming ways. A gentle whisper on a dark night. But why a whisper.
A whisper draws us in. The loud moments put us on our heels. They make us cower in fear. They push us farther into the caves of life. But the whisper allows us to lean in. We have to come forward to hear the words and experience the presence of the one speaking.
The long expected gift of Christmas comes not in the loud and gaudy but in the soft, quiet, gentle whisper that we have to lean into in order to hear fully. Lower your voice. Quiet your mind. Listen for the unexpected whisper of God this Advent.
Away in a manger. Silent Night. O Holy Night. Joy To The World. These songs will fill our churches over the coming days. They are filled with joy and wonder, awe and excitement. The lights on the trees remind us that Jesus is the light of the world. The porcelain manger scenes show the precious baby Jesus surrounded by Mary and Joseph and those innocent shepherds and generous wisemen. It’s a pretty calming thing to consider.
As much as I love these sights and sounds of Christmas, I think they might be missing something. There’s a part of the story that is often unseen and perhaps the old adage out of sight out of mind applies here. Some of you may know this about me and others probably not. I’m a huge fan of the book of Revelation. As a matter of fact, I read it every year in its original Greek language. And spend numerous hours translating it to English with all of the nuances that accompany its original intent. There is so much richness in Revelation that we miss.
Now you’re probably wondering what in the world this has to do with Christmas. To be honest, everything! The book of Revelation is the backside of the Christmas story. It’s the unseen part of the nativity. What we see as a silent and holy night was nothing close to silent when seen through the lens of Revelation. Quiet on the surface but deadly in the shadows. Violence bled into the outlines of that night, but I bet we won’t talk about that one.
The final book of the Bible is often ignored or dismissed because it’s just too hard to understand. Perhaps it is but it’s filled with imagery that might help us see the world around us and even our peaceful holiday specials with a little different detail. Take this example for instance.
There is a scene described in Revelation 12 that focuses on a woman ready to give birth. She’s in the final stages of her pregnancy. She’s crying out in pain. But she’s not the only one in this picture. Lurking in the distance. Hiding in the shadowy parts of the scene is a dragon. A red dragon with fangs poking through the sides of his jaw line. The scaly beast is snarling and growling. Saliva drips from his mouth. He’s had the taste of blood and now sees an innocent and helpless child as his next tasty morsel.
The woman is so weakened by her pregnant state that she can’t defend her child. All she can do let the natural course of events occur. The child will be born. There’s no stopping it. The dragon is poised for the opportune moment. This little baby may be small but it will satisfy the dragon’s hunger in an indescribable way.
Then the child is born. The crying child is welcomed into the world. Not into the claws of the dragon, but he is snatched away and taken to safety…at least for now.
This sure doesn’t sound like the same Christmas story we preach in our churches every year! It isn’t the silent night we thought it was. The imagery here isn’t calm and meek and mild as the manger scene shows. It’s violent. The scene is terrifying to say the least. Death lurks in the shadowy corner. If you read on, you’ll see that war erupts at the birth of this baby Jesus.
In 2023 I’ll be walking a group through the book of Revelation. This is one of the images that has always stood out to me. The beauty and horror of Christmas. The snarling silent night filled with death and war and violence.
While we hang stocking on our fireplaces looking for presents, in the shadows a war was waged. The real story of Christmas is most certainly about the birth of Jesus. The shepherds were there to be sure. But when Jesus was born the plan promised from the foundation of the world was put into action.
This Christmas as you celebrate the holy night in the little town of Bethlehem perhaps you can pause and see into the shadows. Keep your eyes open for where the dragon was hiding. He’s no longer there. He’s been defeated. He’s been conquered by that innocent, helpless child. His birth meant the beginning of the demise for that powerful dragon.
It’s Christmas friends! Light the candles. Put up the tree. Celebrate with family and friends. Not only was a child born. But the road was paved for the defeat of the greatest enemy we would ever have to face. That’s the story of Christmas! That’s the reason Joy filled with World at Christmastime.
This year for the season leading up to Christmas, a time churches call Advent, we’ve been focusing on the events of the first Christmas from the perspective of those who would have been there. I know that this takes some conjecture and a little creativity but we stayed as close to the text of the Bible as possible. The portions that are made of some level of conjecture are less than relevant to the topic at hand.
Each of these messages was simply intended to make us slow down as we run rampant this time of year. We focused on Zechariah. He was Mary’s uncle. He really doesn’t play much of a role in the events on Christmas morning but his story is impactful as we set the stage for what’s about to happen. His lesson was one of pure grace. He was invited into an epic journey and even though he didn’t believe it right away, he experienced what amazing grace felt like in real time.
Then we moved to Mary. She’s well known for so many reasons. As we looked at her part of the journey, we saw just how God has a tendency to interrupt our humdrum lives. We have a statement around church, Men plan but God laughs. Well in this case, she planned a wedding with Joseph then starting a family, but God had other plans. He wanted her to have a child and obediently go where he told her to go.
The third character of the nativity story was Joseph. He’s an unsung hero. No lines to speak. No role beyond the first few chapters of the account of Jesus’ birth. He didn’t want to shame Mary even though he thought she was guilty of something awful. His is a story of being so close to God that he was able to let God lead him off the script of his planned life and into an amazing future as the earthly dad of the son of God.
Week four was the shepherds. They’re on the scene shortly after the birth of Jesus but really don’t have a lot to offer. Their part of the story is more what God did through them and for them than what they did for Jesus. The real important part of their story is who they were or in this case who they weren’t. Not important. Not popular. Not socially acceptable even really. Yet God chose them as the first audience to the birth of His only Son.
Below are the messages cut from these services. I pray you are able to see Christmas through a new set of lenses as you peak into the manger from the perspective of one of these characters.
I know this song is an annual hit for me. On this Christmas Eve, I want you to know how important this song is to me. Every year for Christmas I listen to this song over and over and this version of it just takes it to a whole new level.
The song Little Drummer Boy is pretty simple and there’s not a lot to it to be honest. It started out as a song that was a little boy playing a drum and singing his simple song because that’s all he had to offer. Over time this song has been filled with a lot of extra fun stuff but the gist remains. It’s about a simple song with a crude instrument that some find annoying.
The joke in my family whenever someone has a child is that we’re going to buy that child a drum set just because you can’t turn a drum volume down and getting started it’s just a lot of pounding that makes very little sense.
But the song Little Drummer Boy reminds me a lot of who we are at Christmas time. We decorate our homes and turn on the extra lights. We make a mess while we make cookies and wrap our presents. But all of that, no matter how great you are at baking or wrapping or any of it. All of it is nothing if we don’t just play our drum.
Playing our drum means that we use the gifts God has given us to the best of our ability. We lead. We sing. We dance. We preach. We work on cars. We play sports. We paint. We love on people. Whatever it is use it. Play the drum. It may not sound like much but it’s your song. It’s the song He wants to hear from you!
So turn up the volume. Crank up the bass. And listen as these guys play with everything they have the song God gave them to play.
There are some songs that just push you over the edge. Songs without which you would have a hard time seeing the season of Christmas in its fullest. This song is probably one of my favorite songs for Christmas. But not just any version of this song. Every year on Christmas Eve at the church I serve we are gifted with this song by one of our members.
Now, you have to understand most churches can’t get Amy Grant to sing for them every Christmas. And we are one of those churches that can’t have this pop Christian singer songwriter with us in person. But what we do have is far better in my book. Susan has been with Living Word for longer than I have been here. She’s been gifted with the ability to sing like no one I’ve met. She’s one of those talented people that drive you nuts because she doesn’t need to practice and still sounds better than most people who practice all the time! I only wish I had her recorded singing this so you could enjoy it as much as I do! But if you join us for our Christmas Eve services, you will get to hear her sing. And if you’re lucky she’ll sing this song.
The song Breath of Heaven is sung from the perspective of Mary as she travels to give birth to the baby Jesus. She is in awe of her chosen status. She’s terrified to be a mom. She’s fearful of being the earthly mother to the Son of God. She needs the breath of God to breathe into and for her so that she can have peace on the very first Christmas.
I pray this very Breath of Heaven falls upon you and fills you as you prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. May you offer to God all that you are as He fills you with all that He is.
Have you ever experienced one of those moments that you didn’t want to end? We call those forever moments. They happen once in a lifetime, or if you’re lucky you’ll get a few of these. They start off simple and yet something about those moments make you never want to let go. What’s your most recent forever moment?
This year as we make our final push toward Christmas, we know that things in our lives have been different to say the least. Even Christmas this year is sure to be something different than in every year past. But what would it take for this Christmas to be one of your forever moments? What would it take for you to see past the disturbing events of this year, beyond the disruption to your Christmas normal to find something truly worth holding onto this year?
Today’s MusicMonday is a new song to me but the message is important enough that we need to hear it today. Forever Amen. Christmas was God’s forever amen moment. It was the moment when everything he had promised throughout the Bible came to fulfillment. Christmas was never just about Christmas. The point of Christmas wasn’t just about a baby’s birth. It was so much bigger! It was the start of a forever moment that would be God’s gift to you and me.
Trying to find newer songs for Christmas isn’t really all that easy, so when I find one I like to highlight it here. This one was brought to my attention recently and I feel it has a pretty good upbeat feel. Add to it a good message and we have a hit!
Today’s MusicMonday is about your Christmas list. What’s on your list? Do you know what you want for Christmas this year? For many our lists contain clothes or additions to our home. Some have electronics on their list while others it’s all about jewelry. Whatever is on your list perhaps there’s something better.
This year has been especially difficult for many people. We’ve all struggled in ways that we weren’t expecting to say the very least. I heard someone talking recently about their Christmas list. And it struck me that their list didn’t contain anything for themselves! They built their list around what they wanted to get everyone else. Wouldn’t it be great if we all thought like that? How much different would the world be if we focused on what we could do for others instead of what we want for ourselves!
This year as you prepare for Christmas, stop for a minute and take inventory of all the amazing things you already have in your life. Think about the many blessings and the tremendous relationships that surround you. These and so many more moments in our lives are all part of what we already have. So essentially everything we need for Christmas, we probably already have!
Throughout my childhood I loved the stars and all things space. It’s probably no wonder why I enjoyed the original Star Wars trilogy growing up. Space was and still is truly fascinating! One thing about space that always has thrilled me was the concept that the moon has no light of its own to shine but merely reflects everything the sun gives it.
I’m no scientist or studier of the stars but if this really is true, then we need to be like the moon. The moon is held in orbit by the gravitational forces imposed on it and it only reflects the light that is shined on it. If we were like the moon, then we’d stay in proper orbit around the Son of God and we’d reflect His light into the world in which we live.
There you have it. We’ve been called sheep in the bible and numbered like the stars in the sky and grains of sand on the shore, but now we are also supposed to be like the moon! Reflect away my friends.
As we make our way toward Christmas, we spend lots of time getting things ready. From the lights to the tree to the Christmas meal and all the trimmings of the season there is a lot to do to prepare for Christmas. And that doesn’t have anything to do with the presents that need purchased and boxed and wrapped!
In the same way we have to prepare for Christmas externally with all of the to-do list items needing done, we also need to make sure we’re in the right place spiritually and emotionally for Christmas. This kind of preparation might seem unimportant but honestly getting our heart and mind ready for Christmas is the most important thing we can do.
Whether we’re planning a large family gathering like we have in years past or a smaller more intimate setting in light of the current situation, there will be things that need done to prepare our heart and mind for Christmas. Last week we looked at getting ready by pondering the message of Christmas. Reading the Christmas story or doing your Christmas devotion is a great way to do this.
But moving beyond just reading and thinking about it, this week we focus on praying for the things God promises. The more we know the story, the more we’ll know what it’s all about and why we celebrate to begin with. As we move through this week of Christmas preparation, we spend time in prayer.
What do you need to ask God for? What do you need from him? Take time this season to pray and then watch what God will do in your life.
